Heartaches
by eamarszalek0822
Summary: Ella Bruches is a student from Beaxbatons, staying at Hogwarts ever since Grindewald destroyed her school. Many of her friends have died, and ever since she met him, she began to suspect Tom Riddle, and resolves to find out more about him. She'd even go the great lengths of becoming a prefect to find some information, but will she find more in him than just facts? Tom Riddle/OC
1. Prologue

**Hello! This is my first Harry Potter fanfic, so please tell me what you think! I wouldn't have had the inspiration of writing a Tom Riddle/OC without reading the excellent fanfic **_**An Exquisite Pain. **_**It's great! You all should read it! Disclaimer: I only own Ella, all others are J.K. Rowling's. Oh, and Petunia.**

Chapter 1/Prolougue

All Because of Grindewald

Grindewald stood in front of the wizarding school, admiring the building he was about to destroy. He sucked air into his nose and exhaled loudly. This would be fun. Grindewald turned around to face his army of two hundred or so witches and wizards, and began what one might consider a motivational speech. "Hello, my fellow witches and wizards, we come here to kill, do we not?" they all shouted and yelled in response, ready for the excitement of killing un-expecting students.

"We come today, to the wondrous school of Beaxbatons, unexpected. The headmistress is completely unaware that we are staring into her window, murderous thoughts in our minds. Let's change that, shall we?" they all pushed their wands up in the air, and pointed towards the school in one silent movement. It was creepily hair-raising, and Grindewald loved it. He grinned creepily at the army, and flicked his wrist. One small movement changed and took many lives that day.

They all charged. No one spoke, no one screamed. All you could hear was heavy boots clomping onto the packed earth. Suddenly, two hundred or so streams of blue electricity went towards the school, and crackled along on wall. Tension was thick as they waited. As the last sliver of blue absorbed into the wall, it cracked. It shook. Finally it crumbled into dust, a fine powder. _Silent, _Grindewald thought. _Perfect. _All it did was build the tension, and that was one thing that made him feared amongst all. Because of him, silence meant death.

The missing wall revealed a dining hall packed with students. As he had planned, of course. The students were silent, the army was silent, Grindewald was silent. "_Avada Kedavra." _he whispered. A blonde girl fell to the ground, silent. Because of him, silence meant death.

It then got noisy when the teachers started to rebel, ushering students away and firing curses at the army. All the students obeyed, terrified for their lives. _Except for that one, _he mused. _Her and her pack of followers. _A girl had not listened to the teachers, a girl about fifteen. Long dark hair tumbled down her shoulders and she had an era of command about her. Grindewald decided he would save her for later, and kill the followers. _Avada Kedavra. _One dead. _Avada Kedavra. _Another. They soon scattered, leaving the girl to fend for herself.

He was just about to finish her off when a stunning spell came hurtling at him, he easily dodged it, and turned around to watch the spell bounce off a mirror, and straight towards the girl. She wasn't so lucky. He watched her be dragged off by a couple of teachers, and quickly forgot about her.

In the end Grindewald and his army had unfortunately killed nearly half the students and staff. Grindewald looked around at the damage he had done, which was quite a lot. "You shouldn't stand

up to me, fools." he muttered. He spat at a dead body, no doubt angering its ghost.

Half of the school had crashed down, crushing many bodies with tons of stone. The dining hall ceiling had caved in, ruining furniture and food. _Dumbledore will be here_ _soon, _he thought. With this new threat hanging above him, he decided it was time to leave. With one slight nod of his head, he and his army dissaperated away, leaving no trace that it was there crime, except for one mark hung up in the sky; a red, bloodied hand holding a knife.

Grindewald was correct, several minutes later a middle aged man with strawberry blonde hair appeared. His already saddened face became moodier as he looked around at all the death and destruction his old friend had done. He was more than a friend to Dumbledore, though nobody knew but him. Not even Grindewald. It pained Dumbledore more that the eye can see to see his friend go bad. Because of him, silence meant death. He preferred to not talk about it.

Dumbledore waved his wand and muttered an incantation. All the breathing bodies disappeared, and appeared in Hogwarts. He then said the spell to check if there were anymore. There was. He looked around for the body until finally he came across it. It was the same girl that had faced off Grindewald, her face bloodied and paler than normal. Of course Dumbledore hadn't known this as he picked up her form and did another check. Nothing.

He looked at the girl, and he to sensed the aura of command that Grindewald had. He squinted at her. A deep gash was on her forehead and a small cut on her lip. Blood from the cuts was smeared around her face. Bruises covered her arms and legs. She was special, he decided. Dumbledore then apparated to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

The nurse at the time gasped in surprise when Dumbledore appeared looking very tired and sad. She then noticed the dark haired girl in his arms. "Oh, dear, Albus, what's this? All our beds are full!" Dumbledore shook his head and said, "Then bring a camp bed down here, anything would be good after what she has been through." "Of course." soon the girl was laid down into the bed that had been brought down.

"Oh my," Dumbledore mused. "What?" the slightly plump nurse asked eagerly, needing something other to do than sit and watch the injured. "Why, Petunia, I have just used Legilamency on her," she nodded, gesturing for him to continue. "Her name is Ella Bruches, and she has just faced off with Grindewald." Petunia's eyes widened.

"I believe she is special, very special," Dumbledore said. "We just don't know how."


	2. All Because of Grindewald

**Wow. The prologue got a little out of hand. I had no intention for it to go that way. Hope you like the beginning of the story! Including chapter 1! I redid this chapter twice, so I hope you like it- no, love it! Disclaimer: I only own Ella, Petunia, the nurse, Reyna, and Gemma. All other characters belong to J.K. Rowling.**

Chapter 1/Prologue

All Grindewald's Fault

Ella Bruches woke up in a hospital with no idea where she was or how she got there. So naturally she started to scream and thrash about. "Where am I? How did I get here? Is anyone even _here?" _A noise from the right made her whirl her head around, a bit frightened. It was only a plump nurse, woken up from her unplanned nap on a student. She bustled over to Ella, worry evident on her features. "Something wrong, dear? If you need something, I'll be happy to get it. I am the school's nurse, Madame Pennon."

Ella patiently repeated her questions, also piecing together on what the nurse had said. All she had was that she was in a school. A good sign, really. "Well, you are in Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, as you are staying here for the rest of the year." Questions whirled around Ella's head; she had so many, even though only one question had been answered. "And, of course, there _is _someone here." Madame Pennon gestured to herself proudly. "Anything else?" Ella frowned up at her from her place on the hospital bed. "You didn't answer one question; how'd I get here?"

Madame Pennon swallowed nervously. She placed a plump hand on Ella's arm. "Do-do you remember what happened, dearie?" and that's when it all came rushing back to her. "Oh-Grindewald-attack-Beaxbatons," she stuttered. She finally managed to get one question out of her shock. "Did...people die?" Madame Pennon nodded sadly. Ella swallowed. "Do you...have a list? I would like to see...who, who died." Madame Pennon nodded and went to her desk to pull out a rolled up piece of parchment. She handed it to Ella. Ella took a great breath in and unrolled the parchment slowly. Her heart stopped. "It's...it's so long..." she felt tears prick her eyes. She started to read the list slowly. She only came across people she knew of rather than people she knew and was close to, that is, until she came across two names. _Amelia Gordon and Emily Brown. _She broke, and soon she found herself on Madame Pennon's shoulder, sobbing her eyes out.

"There, there. Shhhh." Madame Pennon patted her back awkwardly, until she and Ella heard a voice that Madame Pennon had been dreading and a voice Ella thought was heartbreakingly familiar. "Ella? S'that you?" Ella turned around so fast that her hair whipped Madame Pennon in the face, causing her to sputter with irritation. It happened to be the auburn haired girl that Madame Pennon had fallen asleep on, and she also happened to be Ella's best friend. "REYNA!" Ella bellowed, and she leapt out of her bed and raced as fast as she could towards her friend, seeing as she was with socks on a very slippery floor.

The two friends embraced each other tightly, as if they would never see each other again. Ella finally pulled back and looked straight into Reyna's hazel eyes, and Reyna did the same to Ella's cool grey. A grin slowly split Ella's face as she said, "I am _so _happy to see you! I was worried that you were dead too, like..." the grin slipped off of Ella's face as she spoke. "Like who?" Reyna didn't break the stare, searching for the truth in Ella's eyes. "Like, like AmeliaandEmily." even though Ella said the names quickly, Reyna still made sense of it. That's just what friends are like. Reyna's eyes widened in horror. "Oh no, not them, they were..." silent tears were running down Reyna's face, and Ella was letting out choking sobs. They embraced each other tighter than before, if possible.

Madame Pennon stepped forward reluctantly, not wanting to break up the girls bonding. "Ahem," she cleared her throat, and Ella and Reyna turned to look at her. Reyna was wiping off her tears quickly, but Ella didn't make a move to do the same. _I will honor and mourn Amelia and Emily until I die, _she thought. _And I won't be ashamed or scared to do it. _"Well, it's almost six, and it's time for you two to join the other girls in the Great hall to get sorted and eat dinner. I told Professor Dumbledore I thought you two were well enough to leave the hospital wing, and he is going to escort to two of you there," Madame Pennon reported, nodding at a middle aged man waiting at the door. Ella and Reyna nodded, and followed the man out of the room.

"What do you think being 'sorted' means?" Reyna asked, breaking the uncomfortable silence between them and Dumbledore. Before Ella had any time to show any sort of answer, Dumbledore spoke. "There are four houses here at Hogwarts; Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. You are sorted into them based on your personality. Gryffindor is for the brave and noble. Ravenclaw is for the intelligent and clever, Hufflepuff is for the friendly and kind, and Slytherin is for the cunning and...Judging," Dumbledore started. _Hufflepuff sounds like where the nobodies go, _Ella thought. Then she silently scolded herself for thinking such a thing. _I'm sure there are many great Hufflepuffs, and I'm sure they make great friends. _"Once you are sorted into the appropriate house, you take the same classes with them, eat with them, and sleep with them. You also have a house Quidditch team."

Ella felt Reyna shift excitedly; she loved Quidditch. Ella didn't particularly like the sport, it was just brutal pushing and shoving pointlessly in her opinion. "I love Quidditch, did you play when you were younger?" Reyna asked. "Why yes I did!" Dumbledore said, looking rather surprised at her question. Ella stopped listening after that, and began wondering what house she would be sorted into. She was rather brave, and she was clever. Well, she thought she was. Maybe Ravenclaw, perhaps Gryffindor, she predicted. She just couldn't wait for the sorting.

Soon they arrived in front of the Great Hall's oaken doors, and were greeted heartily amongst the remaining Beaxbatons students. "Ella! 'Eet is good to see you!" "Reyna!" most Beaxbatons students had heavy French accents, and that was one thing that made Ella and her friend the odd ones out. Ella was from London; she was supposed to go to Hogwarts. But her mother had thought Beaxbatons was more sophisticated, as that was where she went. Then she had met Reyna, who happened to be in a similar situation as her. The two became fast friends.

"Young witches and wizards!" a voice spoke from behind the wooden doors. _He must be about to introduce us, _Ella thought to herself, a queasy feeling growing in her stomach. "Beaxbatons has had an-er- _accident_, and have come to learn with us for this year!" cheers erupted in the hall. An accident? _He's not giving us the credit we deserve. He makes it sound like and attack from Grindewald is as small as a broken pipe! _Ella thought angrily. "-So now they are being sorted!" the great oak doors swung open to reveal tons of staring students.

The Great Hall really was great. The ceiling was bewitched to look like the sky outside, and right now it was a midnight blue and twinkling with stars. There were five tables altogether, four of them facing vertically and one horizontally, over looking the others. On each table were golden plates and goblets, all beautifully designed. But Ella was not noticing all this; she was focusing on the staring faces of students, the queasy feeling in her stomach growing stronger.

"He didn't tell us we'd be doing this in front of _everybody in the school," _she growled at Reyna, referring to Dumbledore. Reyna just shrugged her shoulders, staring at the ceiling. "Who cares? Have you noticed the ceiling, its _fantastic!" _ "I don't _care _about the ceiling; I want to know how are we going to be sorted? Fight a monster, take a quiz, react to different things?" It turns out all of these assumptions were wrong; as Ella figured that out when Dumbledore appeared in front of everybody, carrying an old stool and an extremely battered old hat. "Oh, boy," Ella muttered.

Dumbledore pulled out a roll of parchment. "Delacore, Cossete." a very pretty girl with long, silvery blonde hair smiled nervously and walked up to Dumbledore. Ella couldn't help but notice that nearly every boy turned around and drooled after her. All except one, she thought. He was sitting at the table to the far left, and was _extremely _handsome, with dark, wavy hair, a pale complexion, and bottomless blue eyes. One thing creeped her out about him though. His face showed no emotion whatsoever. Ella shivered discreetly and turned away to watch Cossete sit down with the hat over her eyes. "RAVENCLAW!" the hat screamed, making the half of them jump. Cossete went to sit down at the left middle table.

"Johnson, Gregory."

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

"Kingsberry, Gemma."

"SLYTHERIN!"

"Bloom, Angela."

"RAVENCLAW!"

The list went on and on. Finally Dumbledore called out, "Goodman, Reyna." Reyna walked bravely up to Dumbledore, and pulled the hat low over her eyes. She cocked her head as if listening to something, and the hat finally shouted, "GRYFFINDOR!" the table to the far right clapped loudly as she sat down. _Ok, now I __have __to be in Gryffindor. _Ella thought as she watched her friend sit down. A few more people were called, until Dumbledore called out, "Bruches, Ella." the nervousness was almost unbearable as she walked up to Dumbledore, her knees shaking.

When she reached the stool, she collapsed onto it ungracefully and she felt Dumbledore put the hat over her eyes. She jumped in surprise as she heard the hat speak in her head; it was a strange experience. _So, want to be in Gryffindor, eh? _It asked. _Yes, yes, yes!_ She answered, her heart beating wildly. _You __are __brave, I'll give you that, but nothing else fits, Ravenclaw, maybe, but in Slytherin you are destined for...anything, really. _It mused. _Just put me in Gryffindor, and everyone will be happy, see? Nothing else, it's all over, goodbye. _She begged, feeling quite foolish talking to a hat. _Hmmm, I don't think so, no, it'd better be... "_SLYTHERIN!" she stood up from her chair numbly, gave Reyna one last, sad look, and made her way to the now cheering Slytherin table.

She made to sit at the end of the table, but she felt an arm drag her down next to it. "Finally, someone I _know," _Gemma Kingsberry was looking at her with bright green eyes, a grin on her face. Ella smiled back, although she didn't really feel it. She and Gemma talked a lot, and Ella knew that Gemma would be her partner and friend in Slytherin. Finally "Grace, Noel." was called, and sorted into Ravenclaw.

A short man stood up at the gold podium, and said, "Please, let us welcome our guests with a great feast!" they all clapped appropriately as the headmaster sat himself back down. Ella gasped with pleasant surprise as food magically appeared on their plates, a delicious smell wafting up to them. She and Gemma happily dug into mashed potatoes and roast, and soon they noticed people were getting up and leaving, and that the food was disappearing quickly. They got up to follow them to what Ella supposed was the dormitories.

They soon came to a section, where someone quickly shouted, "Pureblood!" and the wall disappeared to reveal a tunnel. Ella was thankful for this, for she was feeling quite sleepy and full, and needed a bed as soon as possible. As Slytherins disappeared up staircases, the pale, handsome boy walked up to them. She felt Gemma stiffen up beside her; she faintly recalled Gemma mentioning something about him. He smiled a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes. Ella frowned at this, but Gemma didn't notice and was beaming right up at him. "Hello, I'm Tom Riddle, Head Boy," he started. Ella noticed his tone hardened when he said his name. _This boy is mysterious, _Ella decided, making a mental note to find out more about him. "The girls dorm is right up those stairs," Tom pointed to the right staircase and continued, "I hope you enjoy staying at Hogwarts, sleep well." He then walked off. Ella walked up the stairs silently, a giggling Gemma following her up.

They noticed that the other fifth years were still asleep, and took the last two beds, which were conveniently next to each other to the right corner, far from anyone else. They bid each other goodnight, and Ella drew her drapes, already in her pajamas. She lay down under the covers, and fell asleep quite easily, with one thought on her mind:

Who is really Tom Riddle?

**I hope you guys enjoyed, and don't worry, things will pick up a bit in the next chapter, I believe. And please review and tell me what you think, ideas for sub-plots, and ideas for the 'bad guys'! See you soon in the next chapter!**

**-eamarszalek0822**


	3. Of Magic Mirrors and Food Fights

**Woohoo! I FINALLY finished this chappie, it was a MONSTER to write. I tried to have a little more Ella/Tom action in here, as well as a taste of the situations Ella gets herself into. DISCLAIMER: I would REALLY like the rights for my birthday….**

Chapter 2

Of Magic Mirrors and Food Fights

_Ella was in a room, with absolutely no light except for a window shining moonlight. A humanoid figure shuffled across the room, and for some reason she felt a rush of both fear and…love? "You can come out now," she called out, not even realizing she had spoken until the figure froze. _

_ Ella froze also, her chest heaving with quick breaths. She was afraid, she was excited. Adrenaline rushed through her as she spoke again. "You can stop," she told it. "You can take control." The figure, originally hunched, straightened up until it towered above her, seemingly growing larger with each step it took towards her. It reached to its side, and pulled a bone-like wand out. The last thing she remembered feeling was regret, regret that she had even spoken in the first place. The figure whispered something, its voice harsh and rough. It then raised its wand, and—_

_Smack. _Ella awoke from her nightmare, spluttering and coughing from the water in her throat. Her face stung from where icy cold water had splashed onto her, and her eyes burned from where it had leaked into them when she had snapped her eyes open. It was not the most comfortable way to wake up.

Olive Hornby's face lingered above hers, sneering. Another large bead of water hovered near the tip of her twisted wand, ready to be dropped onto Ella's head. All of the other fifth years were sat up in their beds, staring at the pair. The window let in a greenish sort of light, due to that the dorm was under the lake, giving no hints whatsoever on what time it was. The wooden floor bore splash marks were Olive had obviously failed at getting the water from the bathroom to Ella, and was also littered with socks, robes, and green silk ties. Her green velvet curtains had been carelessly drawn back from her bed, causing them to hang halfway off of the rail of her four-poster.

Ella calmly pointed her wand to the curtains. "_Reparo." _The curtains picked themselves off the ground and straightened before hanging up again with a soft _clink. _Ella then turned to look at Olive, her face a mask of indifference, and asked, "And _why, _did you wake me up?" Olive raised her heavy eyebrows, her hazel eyes widening in mock disbelief. "Well, you were making small noises and thrashing about! We were so worried," Ella continued to stare until Olive finally cleared her throat and said, "It was _annoying, _there was no other way to get you to stop!" Olive exclaimed, looking peeved. "Why are _all _the newbies so annoying?" Olive muttered to herself. That didn't stop Ella from hearing it.

"You could've casted _Silencio,_" she corrected. "And I dunno, Olive, why _are _we so annoying?" Olive ignored her, and turning back to get into her fancy trunk, warned, "Breakfast is in ten minutes, Belle!" a small girl with mousy brown hair nodded vigorously. "Oh, I know! I'm already prepared," Olive shot Belle a glare; that was obviously not what she was supposed to say. The small girl turned on her heel quickly and left the room.

Ella sighed and stood up out of her four-poster, and, walking around to get into her own trunk, was greeted with a horrible realization. Her trunk was destroyed when Grindelwald had blown up Beaxbatons, and so instead of the lovely blue-grey uniforms she usually wore, all she had now were two sets of white shirts, jeans, black robes and one silk green tie. One problem; she had no idea how to tie a tie. This was going to be a long day.

Ella jabbed her fork into the eggs, and tore around the yolk area, watching the thick yellow liquid leak out. She sat there, isolated from the rest of the table, not hungry the slightest. She knew that she looked terrible; she hadn't tried to look pretty, or at least well-groomed, as she didn't feel like doing her best a day after half her school had been killed. She was done crying; now she was in a depressive silence. She glared at a couple of girls that were pointing and giggling at her.

She knew what they were laughing at – her tangled dark hair, her wrinkled jeans, the straight tie that had been tied like a bow tie – she didn't have a clue as to how to tie it. She was just considering hissing at them when Gemma, as bouncy as ever, plunked herself down beside Ella.

"What are you _wearing?" _Gemma reached out and undid Ella's bow tie, tying it into a proper straight tie. Ella slapped her hand away. "I _liked _the bow tie," Gemma frowned at her. "You didn't tie the bow tie right, either." Ella groaned and smacked her forehead. "Whatever." The now small group of girls were giggling harder than ever, pointing and laughing. "You might want to put your hair up," Gemma informed her worriedly. "It looks a little tangled."

Ella opened her mouth to respond when a girl snorted in the midst of her laughter. For some odd reason, Ella snapped at this. She growled angrily, and flicked a piece of yolk-soaked toast towards the group. She had a lucky shot – it smacked onto the snorting girl's forehead, sticking there, surrounded by a splatter of yellow goop. She let out a girlish scream and scooped up a forkful of hash browns. She tossed it, meaning to hit Ella, probably, but instead getting Gemma between the eyes.

Gemma calmly wiped the hash browns away from her face, and, picking up a few pieces of soggy French toast, flung them at the girl. They hit Olive in the stomach, soaking her top with syrup.

Everyone was soon in the fight.

Gryffindors, Hufflepuffs, Ravenclaws, and every single Slytherin were flinging breakfast foods all over the Great Hall, even getting some teachers to fling food at people. Ella had just finished chucking an egg at Olive when she noticed Tom Riddle sitting there, half his face covered in who-knows-what, looking very displeased. He stood up quickly, and, nodding at Abraxas Malfoy, left the Great Hall with Malfoy tailing along.

Ella meant to follow him, but, Albus Dumbledore, Transfiguration professor, chose the moment to stand up at the gold podium, yelling, "CALM DOWN!" everyone in the Great Hall froze and stared at him, dropping all sorts of food. "Breakfast is over," Dumbledore continued calmly. "And we will all head to our first classes of the day. Goodbye, all of you," and the students left, the boys complaining about being hungry and the girls whining and casting cleaning charms upon themselves. Ella wiped herself clean and pulled her hair into a ponytail. She muttered softly to Gemma, "Am I the only one to find joy in the fact that Olive has yolk in her bra?"

Ella's first class was Double Potions with Professor Slughorn, who turned out to be a fat older man that had quite a temper towards her. She found this out when she complained about not being able to pick your 'potions pal', as he put it.

"I am picking you partner," he said to her, as Ella shared a longing look with Reyna. Gryffindor was the house that made it 'Double Potions'. "And you are most _certainly _not going to be with a friend." He added, glancing to where Ella was staring. She'd sighed, and hoped only that she would get Gemma.

She had Tom Riddle. Not Gemma, not Reyna, but Tom Riddle. She plopped herself down next to Riddle grumpily. He seemed to have no joy in the situation either. "Alright," he said, looking directly at her. "Just leave the work for me to handle, and me to handle alone," Ella huffed a laugh at this, and said, "Fine." But she planned to help. She planned to slip a bit of potion ingredient into the brew, and after they had gotten an O on it, she would tell him she had done it all along.

So, in the middle of making a Sleeping Potion, she slipped the powdered root of whatever plant into the boiling blue liquid. She had not thought of when Riddle would add _his _portion.

It exploded.

The once blue liquid had turned a violent shade of red, and when it was splattered on every person in the room, they began to twist and turn violently as hair grew wherever it had splashed. Ella soon had a face full of dark hair, some even growing on her tongue, as her mouth had been opened. But she still managed to get out a, "What did you _do?" _with a blaming finger pointed at Riddle. Riddle raised his now bushy eyebrows. "_Me? _What did _I _do?" did his eyes just…?

No, no one's eyes turned _red _just because they were angered.

Ella lay in her four-poster with the curtains drawn, listening to the other's heavy breathing. It had to be around one AM, as it felt like _hours _since she had lain down. She couldn't sleep, as every time she closed her eyes she saw the black figure, raising its wand, whispering in its raspy way. She shivered just to think about it. She had thought about who it was; she had supposed she had dreamed up a Grindelwald, seeing as she thought of him far to often.

Ella tossed and turned, trying to find a comfortable position on the bed, squeezing her eyes shut, deliberately thinking of something _besides _Grindelwald. After about fifteen minutes of this without success, she sighed and got out of bed, planning to just read a book in the Common Room. She made her way down the steps and towards the couch, before noticing another presence in the room. She squinted through the darkness to find Tom Riddle sprawled out on the couch, a book in his hands, blue eyes shut as he slept.

He looked a lot younger than he did when he was awake, as his face was more open, and not set like stone when he was fully conscious. She carefully crept past him, deciding to go and wander the halls, and slipped through the widening hole in the stone wall.

Ella got lost in five minutes. She had no idea where she was in the castle, with no torches to lead the way, no portraits awake to give her directions. She shuffled along the hallway until she came across Professor Dumbled0re's office, and she knocked on it, planning to say she was going to the loo when the door swung open. She opened her mouth to voice her excuse, until she noticed that this was _not _Dumbledore's office, and that no one was there.

She crept inside quietly and peered around the moonlit classroom. Desks were pushed up against the walls, the portraits were crooked and empty, and the chalkboard was collecting dust. A large mirror stood in the center of the abandoned classroom, and Ella went toward it, seeing something rather tall in the mirror. She stayed a few feet back, just in case something dangerous was in the mirror, as that was definitely not her reflection.

It was a person, she realized, in the mirror, their face hidden by shadow. All she saw was their mouth, moving in silent words. They were moving just barely, so that she couldn't lip-read what they were saying, and the face grew until that was all she could see. "What are you doing here?" she jumped at the sudden noise and whirled around to see Tom Riddle standing in the doorway, fully dressed.

"I could ask the same thing," she made a weak attempt to defend herself against the accusation. "I followed you when I noticed you had left the Common Room," he answered, obviously upset with her. "I couldn't sleep," she muttered. He made a noise in the back of his throat. "Let's go back, shall we?"

They were soon walking up the stairs towards the Slytherin dormitories, when she suddenly asked, "Why were you in the Common Room?" he turned to look at her, surprise flitting across his features before he became stone faced once more. "Research," he answered, turning back away from her. "Why so late?" "Do we have to do this now?" he ignored her question, speeding up the stairs and entering the hole in the wall.

Ella stored the knowledge that maybe he _wasn't _as nice as everyone made him out to be.

**What'd you think? What'd you think? Was it too rushed? I hope the characters are fun for you and the story is going fast enough/slow enough. I will take any ideas for this story, just leave it in a review or PM me it. ;)**

**Please, PLEASE leave some good ol' reviews, I'd really appreciate it. ;) Some constructive criticism would be nice also… but reviews are better! You get a free virtual cookie if you review/constructive criticism! **


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